Quite often in regards to people aging, conversations focus on encouraging seniors to be as active as possible and live life to the fullest. As people age, however, it is also important to consider one's wishes for the end of life.Discussing death is never easy, but with age can come illnesses that make it necessary for seniors and their families to consider end-of-life care. More and more often, people are turning to care services such as Beacon Hospice, Inc.

Located on Willow Street in Yarmouthport, Beacon Hospice's Cape Cod office is one of the 27 that make up the organization, from Maine to Connecticut. The care they provide offers patients the opportunity to experience what Beacon's employees and volunteers call "a good death." "It is a dignified, comfortable death," explained Cheryl Sifford, clinical service manager for the Cape office.

Through Beacon, terminally ill patients in the final six months of life receive specialized care tailored specifically to each individual. Every patient is assigned a nurse, a doctor, and a number of volunteers who undergo extensive training. "We have spiritual volunteers, social workers, and even a chaplain involved with Beacon," said Sifford.

What hospice truly offers patients and their families, however, is a chance to celebrate the life of a loved one at a critical time in that life.

An illness seen often among Beacon patients on Cape Cod is end-stage dementia, either from Alzheimer's or another related disease. While the organization's volunteers and staffers work to provide top-notch health care and pain management for the patient, Beacon also offers important extras.

"Each patient is given a 'ditty box'," said Cindy Robotham, Beacon's volunteer coordinator. The boxes contain a CD player, a soft teddy bear, and various toiletries including hand lotion used in healing touch therapy. "The patients don't always get that friendly touch," said Robotham, who noted that music also helps tremendously in calming patients.

A form of volunteerism unique to Beacon Hospice are colorful posters called Chart-A-Life, created for patients by Beacon volunteers.

Chart-A-Life posters are made using family photos and written excerpts of a patient's history, which come together to "chart" a person's life.

The posters help dementia patients recall happier times and help to establish the person within the patient. "It helps people to know that this person had a life," said Robotham. "You don't want your life defined by the end-stage illness."

Both the box and the Chart-A-Life posters are available through a Beacon program known as Deep Harbors, which focuses on caring for patients with end-stage dementia. No matter the illness, hospice workers remain dedicated to their patients.

Both Robotham and Sifford recall a patient who was a member of the Micmac Indian tribe but was without family or friends as she neared the end of her life. "We had a Wampanoag volunteer who understood this woman's wishes," said Robotham. "She brought in her medicine man and saw to it that the woman was buried in full dress."

Hospice can also provide a great deal of support for a patient's family, as well, by offering a number of services. Grief counseling is available, nurses and volunteers offer respite, and, when a loved one's final days come, Beacon gives out sitting vigil baskets stocked with water, snacks, and comfort items. During a patient's final days Beacon volunteers also take turns spending time with patients and their families. "It helps everyone knowing that they're having a whole team come in," said Sifford.

While broaching the subject of death can be difficult, Robotham and Sifford encourage families to have the conversation as soon as possible.

"We do have a society that's very uncomfortable with death," said Robotham. "However, if you have someone who is alert enough to know what's going on, it's not fair not to tell them. We know how to talk to patients. What a maternity nurse is to birth, Hospice is to death."